Our
route from Missoula took us along the East side of Flathead Lake. The lake
is 38 miles long and 15 miles wide and the water is crystal clear. There
are a couple of small towns and many cabins around the lake. (1 of 11)Glacier Park, MT 7/9 - 7/12/00
| Our
route from Missoula took us along the East side of Flathead Lake. The lake
is 38 miles long and 15 miles wide and the water is crystal clear. There
are a couple of small towns and many cabins around the lake. (1 of 11) |
| This is a beautiful location with large sites and fantastic views of the mountains. Located well off the highway it's very quiet. The property is abuts Upper St. Mary's Lake so it is a short walk to get to the lake. They have a small cafe where they serve breakfast in the morning and a barbecue dinner each evening. (2 of 11) |
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| On Monday we drove to the Many Glacier area of the park and visited the Many Glacier Hotel. This is where we spent our honeymoon 37 years ago. The views around here are just spectacular. The lake water is slightly turquoise from the effect of water coming from the glaciers. On the way into the park we saw a grizzly bear feeding in the meadow. Many Glacier is one of the last areas in the country that still has them thriving in the wild. This did give us some concern about hiking in the area, but the trails we hiked had a number of people on them which seems to keep the bears away. (3 of 11) |
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| Bear Grass is a common sight in the Many Glacier area. The plant is usually about four foot tall. For reasons unknown to me, the rangers refer to it as "Tits in the Grass." On the right the Bear Grass is joined by Indian Paint Brush. As you can see, not all Bear Grass is shaped the same. (4 of 11) |
 On
Tuesday we drove over the Going-To-The-Sun Road that crosses Glacier Park
from East to West. The road was completed in the 30's and is still the same
width (narrow) it was then. This was a top-down weather day with temperatures
in the lower 70's in the valley and in the upper 50's at Logan Pass, the
highest point on the road. (5 of 11) |
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 This
is Lake McDonald located on the West side of Glacier Park. It is the largest
of the crystal clear lakes that are scattered around the park. (6 of 11) |
 This
is John's Lake. It was a short hike off the road that runs along Lake McDonald.
If the picture was big enough you might be able to see the moose that is
feeding in the water on the other side of the lake. I didn't realize he
was there until after I took the shot. I must have scared it because he
went thrashing through the water and stopped on the shore to look at me
before heading into the woods. (7 of 11) |
| This was taken on the East side of Logan Pass. The entire route had views like this, just spectacular! The curved valley floor is a result of a glacier that carved out the valley millions of years ago. (8 of 11) |
| As you can see the snow is not completely melted here on the trail. When they open the road in May they have to resurvey the road to find in in the 50 to 80 foot snow drifts before they can plow it to the top. And yes, Susan is in this picture. (9 of 11) |
 On
Wednesday we drove into Canada to visit Waterton Lakes National Park. This
is Cameron Lake with a view of the mountain behind it and the canoes on
the lake. (10 of 11) |
| The hike to this point was listed as .7 miles one-way. That didn't seem like much until we started on the hike and realized it was straight up. This was a steeper climb than the hikes we took in the Grand Canyon, but the view from the top was magnificent and well worth the hike. The Canadians refer to this area as "where the prairie meets the mountains". (the end) |